Construction? Highway 7 advocates more interested in conclusion

Construction of a new Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph has hit the point where preparatory work is visible to anyone travelling near the Kitchener end of the current highway.

After all necessary property for the highway was acquired, Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation started prep work in 2015.

Now, Shirley Avenue is being widened near the future highway, while Victoria Street is occasionally being blocked to traffic for utility relocation work. Design and engineering work is also taking place.

It’s enough to suggest the project, which has been promised by Queen’s Park for nearly half a century but never delivered, might finally be moving ahead.

But it’s not enough to ease the concerns of people who have lived through past sporadic spurts of activity on the file – particularly given the news that the province’s own transportation program forecasts a completion date of “beyond 2021.”